Durham police nearly three times as likely to make an arrests in shootings where someone is killed
In the five-year span, the report found the city of Durham had 1,118 shooting victims in 1,011 incidents.
Posted — UpdatedDurham Police Chief Patrice Andrews asked Duke to conduct the review, which investigated data from 2017 through 2021.
According to the report, there were 1,028 non-fatal shootings and 160 deadly shootings.
Law enforcement made at least one arrest in 46% of fatal shootings, but officers made an arrest in only 16% of the shootings where no one died, according to the report.
On Wednesday, Durham resident Jean Brese described a May 2021 drive-by shooting. Brese was driving when she was caught across the street from a car firing at an apartment complex.
“I started hearing pop, pop, pop, and I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh. This is a shootout,’” Brese said.
Durham found a bullet hole in the back of Brese's car. The other had gone through her open driver's side window and hit the passenger side.
"If I'd have been a little bit … seconds earlier, I'd have been hit in the head,” Brese said.
Brese said police told her she was the only one to call 911 for the May 2021 drive-by shooting. She believes that is part of the problem.
"It's a normal lifestyle now, but it shouldn't be,” Brese said.
Study co-author Dr. Phillip Cook says it's vital to clear all the cases, not just murders.
“From the point of view of preventing future shootings, it is -- in my mind -- just as important to solve the non-fatal shootings as to solve the fatal shootings,” Cook said.
The data show more evidence is collected in deadly shootings, and additional resources are another reason they're more likely to be solved.
“Homicide investigators have a much lighter caseload,” Cook said.
Andrews says the department is using this data to improve its arrest rate. The department has recently reorganized the Criminal Investigations Division, giving high priority to non-fatal shooting cases.
160 Durham fatal shooting victims, 2017-2021 combined: Who, when, where
- Female: 10.6%
- Male: 89.4%
- 0-17: 9.4%
- 18-24: 30.0%
- 25-34: 33.8%
- 35+: 26.3%
- White: 14.4%
- Black: 83.8%
- Other: 1.9%
- Hispanic: 8.8%
- Residence: 25%
- Indoor (non-residence): 7.5%
- Outdoor: 66.9%
- Other/unknown: 0.3%
1,028 Durham non-fatal shooting victims, 2017-2021 combined: Who, when, where
- Female: 16.8%
- Male: 83.2%
- 0-17: 12.8%
- 18-24: 31.9%
- 25-34: 30.6%
- 35+: 24.2%
- White: 13.0%
- Black: 86.1
- Other: 0.9%
- Hispanic: 9.0%
- Residence: 35.9%
- Indoor (non-residence): 12.2%
- Outdoor: 48.7%
- Other/unknown: 3.2%
The conclusions of the study found:
- Victims were not representative of Durham’s population with respect to age, race or sex.
- Gun violence had far-reaching effects on the city and all its residents, according to the study.
- Non-fatal and fatal shootings have been similar in many respects (including the characteristics of victims and patterns over time and space), but police investigations of non-fatal shootings tended to collect less evidence and have a much lower arrest and conviction rate.
Over those five years in Durham, the percentage of shooting cases – both fatal and nonfatal – that ended in an arrest and a conviction was just 15%.
“Thus when there is a criminal shooting in Durham, it is unlikely (85%) that anyone will be arrested and convicted,” the study states. “These results are troubling, not only because the system has failed to deliver justice, but also because of the urgent need to prevent future gun violence in Durham.”
Other findings of the study:
- Most cases that are cleared by an arrest result in a prosecution, including 89% of fatal shootings and 70% of non-fatal shootings. However, the study found most serious cases typically take years to process in the courts in Durham as elsewhere, and there has been no disposition yet in a large percentage of the fatal shootings.
- The people who put the study together stated the results should be readily available to local government agencies and the public. “Compiling [this] data has not been easy, and has only been possible due to the extraordinary efforts of the Durham Police and District Attorney’s Office. The people who put the study together encourage police and court officials to coordinate on producing a similar report on an annual basis.
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